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Beef Prices Rising Again!

The contiual rising costs of beef is forcing people to change their meat eating habits. According to the beef monthly price from IndexMundi, cattle prices have risen over 100% in the last 5 years. And NBC reported that beef is expected to rise another 5 % according to the U.S.D.A.’s economic research service in 2015. Altin Kalo an economist from Steiner Consulting Group states that “Beef is becoming a luxury.” What happened and why?

It seems like beef has encountered the perfect storm. Record corn prices, drought, fewer farmers and exchange rates, have forced service providers and retailers to start passing on the higher costs to consumers after years of trying to absorb them through margin reductions and operational streamlining. This lag has created sticker shock to the consumer.

This has forced the consumer to reduce red meat consumption. The pork industry has also seen price increases but most of that was related to the PED epidemic that seems to have stabilized. The real winner in all this is the poultry industry who have seen good results. According to Jamie Sturgeon of Global News, Stats Canada , poultry is showing a marginal fall in price.

Now it will take another set of circumstances, lower feed costs and consumer consumption habit changes and time to see beef prices stabilize and start to retreat